---QUOTATION---That one Game when I entered the Dark Valley for the first time
as a member of the Freedom Faction and Bullet tried to kill me,
I ended up meeting a friendly Poker & Friar in the Wild Territory.
Yes, Tejas Slacker, they move to the first bandit smart_terrain available to them, and as a Freedom member (the only faction you can join in vanilla -- looks like a developer oversight) the Duty is your enemy while the bandits are neutral.---END QUOTATION---

Yup, and Mercs are neutral too unless you mess with them

NatVac, any plans for further freeplay enhancements? Maybe the abilities to join different factions could be unlocked? Playing as a bandit would be fun for a while

"This is evolution: the monkey, the man, then the gun" - Marilyn Manson

Ok, r2 sun near 1 worked fine. The following shadow when you turn direction has disappeared. One other graphical related question though - yesterday I upgraded my 1680x1050 22" monitor to a 1920x1200" 24" monitor (samsung 2443BW). Loaded up STALKER, went into options and changed 1680x1050 resolution to 1920x1200. Immediately, there seemed to be a large increase in brightness/gamma (whatever it is called). I thought that was odd, but I loaded up my savegame just from Petruha and tried the Nimble mission again. I typed in the r2 sun command, that got rid of the shadow, but now when I move, the shadows of everything else seem to 'shimmer' (and the edges of the shadows are very rough as well). Anyone else seen either of these symptoms (the increase in gamma when changing res, and the shimmering, blocky edged shadows)? All graphical settings are at maximum.

Download information for the Zone Reclamation Project (ZRP) is in one of my posts on the previous page.

The forum was/is acting strangely again. The link to this thread on the topics page didn't show the last thread page for the notanumber's post because the thread's post count was one off (1779 instead of 1780), although the post by romulous (made while I composed this) is now showing the correct number. Edit: Whoops. The new post by notanumber has the same number, 1781.

And it looks like the forum software is undergoing more changes -- the link command is visible at the moment and search results are funky. We may be due for some downtime...
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---QUOTATION---natvac ~ when i changed to a widescreen, i got a huge box like shadow following close behind me. Although this was eerily quite cool, it became quite annoying. I checked back a few pages in the bugs section and there it was : r2_sun_near 1 and it immediately fixed the problem.---END QUOTATION---

Vintar, I think that shortens the detail shadow draw distance to one meter around the player, so that's one way of fixing it.

Does this weapon still appear in the normal game before Freeplay?? i haven't seen it since starting a game with the August updates.---END QUOTATION---

ERForman, it is supposed to. One just needs to install the 090805 update over the 090429 version of the demo. Check to see that you have the file _custom_ext.script in the gamedata\scripts subdirectory.

Another check would be to visit the location of the custom edition of the Vintar/VSS Vintorez, which is also created at the beginning of the game (or when you first run the mod). If it is there, then one possibility is that the Ziphty Viper fell through the ground at that other spot. Try pulling it out of the ground with the debug command Esc D C while near where it is supposed to be.

Another debug command to try while in the area: Esc D / to store any loose online weapons on the NPC bodies nearest them. Unique weapons are not stored, but you will see a news item onscreen about this.

We can spawn it into your game either directly or indirectly if needed.
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---QUOTATION---NatVac, any plans for further freeplay enhancements? Maybe the abilities to join different factions could be unlocked? Playing as a bandit would be fun for a while ---END QUOTATION---

Actually, yes, notanumber, although joining factions was not planned. There's already a mod for that. I think the only faction in vanilla that can be "unlocked" for joining is Duty. The rest require changes to game_relations.ltx and other files, mainly for dialog support.

My gameplay focus was on improved AI, more flexible quests, and a more open all.spawn. One example: Consider your variable weather technique applied to lair communities, jobs, lock combinations and the like. At least each game could be quite different.

But I agree that your level-80 rogue needs some free-play love, too. This needs more thought.

¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯romulous, see my reply to Vintar, with the reference to bardak's comment about r2_sun_near_border 1.0 working for him. The r2_sun_near 1 apparently means that shadows are detailed only within one meter of the player. Edit: Looks like notanumber is thinking the same way.

The shimmer and brightness could be monitor-related, or maybe STALKER automatically boosts brightness/gamma when you switch to widescreen. See your monitor manual about response times and possible presets and configuration options, too.

¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯Folks, an interesting side effect with the current implementation of the box/crate fix is that if a container with a medkit is broken by you or a mutant or NPC while you are close enough to a wounded guy, that medkit will immediately go to the injured party.

This is corrected in the upcoming release.

This side effect is also possible with the bardak treasure manager loss_workaround in the demo, when you search bodies. It is a consequence of the drop-a-medkit code.

I'm currently packaging a new demo release which will contain the first release candidate for ZRP 1.05. I expect one more round of refinement based on feedback from that, and then I'll put out an official release for 1.05. No more "test".*

The sole remaining critical issue is documentation, so it could be another few days. That assumes BobBQ doesn't print another chapter in the Tiger's Spring saga in the meantime. (Thanks, BobBQ. It feels like a great transition piece between Clear Sky and SoC.)

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*And there was much rejoicing. Well, okay, somebody just blew a note on a kazoo. And that was me. Sigh.

Ok, those shimmering shadows are caused by 'sun shadows' in the SHOC graphics options. The game looks slightly worse when disabled (much of the light/brightness disappears from the levels), but it does get rid of the shimmering shadows. May have fixed the 'changed brightness when changed resolution' issue as well (I enabled that option at the same time as changing resolutions, as it was the only graphics option not ticked - now I remember why it wasn't ticked).

Also, I know NatVac can't test this, so someone else please do so: anyone with a widescreen monitor, please check the trading screens in particular. For me, they look stretched (particularly the weapons and items icons, and the Marked One and Sidorovich's pictures). Maybe the widescreen inventory files are not applying for me for some reason?

Okay, the promised demo release is now available, with ZRP 1.05 RC1 at the heart of it. It features Mr. Fusion's outstanding marker management system, with no sticky markers and improved location logic and hints.

What's new in ZRP_MM_AS_Demo_090912 since the 090429 demo release? It's bullet time:

Added:
• Free play support even if you don't start a new game. (NatVac)
• Another named quicksave via Esc F5 or Esc F6. (NatVac)

Changes:
• The Live Stalker Ranking support has been updated. (Mr. Fusion)
• Tushkanos are now more resistant to electricity. (NatVac per Mr. Fusion)
• You can now trade with Cap before the initial Barrier attack. (NatVac per BobBQ)
• Disabled Rostok helicopter flame fix for now. (NatVac)
• Drop-a-medkit tweaked to include walking wounded. Reach on drop extended to 3 meters. (NatVac)
• New level changers added as you go, except late game LCs. All unadded LCs are added when you complete the game. (NatVac)
• Optional save game prefix helps group your saves. (NatVac)
• HUD clock texture removed for better widescreen appearance. (NatVac)

Modifier changes (NatVac):
• A preliminary Tweaks configuration has been added.
• The save_prefix configuration is part of New Game Tweaks.

These are not exhaustive lists. (Well, at least in the sense of completeness. ) Again, PLEASE see docs\DebugSupportChanges.txt. And see the docs\ZRP_1.05_RC1_Fixes.txt file for a lot more details on the fixes and changes.

The new documentation is not ready, but the debug doc is comprehensive, now.

There were some problems uploading it (and the date stamp for it on the site is a year old), but I was able to download and open the archive so it should work for those interested.

Download information for the Zone Reclamation Project (ZRP) stuff like this is in one of my posts on the previous page. Of course, this is a good place for feedback, complaints or other comments.

A reminder: "! Unknown command: dbg:_" followed by text in your console log is just a debug statement. Look at it to know what it is about. Usually it is just informative, as when guns are moved into bodies or crates are broken (with crate debug mode) or a mapspot removal is deferred.

¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯romulous, there are some widescreen updates included in the latest release, but I don't think any of the widescreen fixes address the stretching of the vanilla images.

P.S. For the commented-out flashing PDA icon version, look in the gamedata\config\ui\optional subdirectory for maingame.xml.no_flashing_PDA_icon. Copy that up a directory to maingame.xml to hide the PDA icon.

---QUOTATION---romulous, there are some widescreen updates included in the latest release, but I don't think any of the widescreen fixes address the stretching of the vanilla images.

P.S. For the commented-out flashing PDA icon version, look in the gamedata\config\ui\optional subdirectory for maingame.xml.no_flashing_PDA_icon. Copy that up a directory to maingame.xml to hide the PDA icon.---END QUOTATION---

Hi NatVac,

Hm, then the textures must have always been stretched. Funny I didn't notice them before. Anyway, cheers for the PDA icon fix

---QUOTATION---Is there a way to fix the radiation sickness if it doesn't go away? ---END QUOTATION---

In a word, no. You have to return to a savegame prior to the problem occuring. If you have no savegame, you have two options:
1. Start a new game and make frequent gamesaves this time.
2. Use the ZRP loadout feature of TZIO to get a rough equivalent to your current game progress.

NatVac: I checked, and that PDA file you mentioned does not exist. I removed my old gamedata folder and installed the new version and have started a new game from scratch. I've modded the file manually for this new game, but you might want to update the ZRP archive so that it includes the no pda file.

Edit #1: NatVac, is the grenade glitch (the one where you cannot select a grenade and to get it working again, you need to drop a grenade and then pick it up again) fixable?

Edit #2: Oops, it seems that PDA file is in the archive after all. It is the non-widescreen version though, so the modded _16 version I did when I couldn't find the PDA file is still required. Now if I could only work out why I get an instant CTD after trying to reload a savegame after installing this version (posted the error text over at the ZSG thread for ZRP).

Noticed that when leaving NPP going back to Pripyat that I cannot just walk through the gate to trigger the level change. Seems I must try to jump the barb wire fence to the right of the gate in order to trigger it.